Mr. President: Look what's coming to the National Mall

WASHINGTON – The National Park Service has approved the placement of a 45-foot sculpture of a nude woman on the National Mall next month through March 28.

Titled “R-Evolution” by artist by Marco Cochrane, it first debuted in 2015 at the “Burning Man” Festival in Nevada, it could soon be making its way for a position near the Washington Monument, Smithsonian and the Capitol.

And guess which direction it will be facing – the White House.

A fundraising effort is currently under way to transport the figure from San Francisco to the nation’s capital. More than $20,000 has been raised with a 30-day goal of $90,000.

R-Evolution … from Burning Man to the National Mall

Cochrane’s campaign, called “The Bliss Project,” is designed to combat what he sees as a culture that increasingly dehumanizes women and sexualizes the female form.

R-Evolution is just one of three giant nude female sculptures Cochrane created with his model and collaborator Deja Solis. The other two pieces, Bliss Dance and Truth is Beauty, have found homes on the Las Vegas Strip and the San Leandro Tech Campus in California.

He said the series spawned from an idea of feminine safety that he says he has been wrestling with since the age of seven, when he learned that a friend had been sexually assaulted.

“These sculptures are about expressing what it would be like if women were safe,” Cochrane said. “To me this sculpture answers that question … She’s absolutely fearless and accepting and being able to do that is a really powerful thing.”

The sculpture is being brought to Washington, D.C. by the organizers of Catharsis on the Mall, an annual three-day event that features 24-hour activities, music and an effigy burn. The theme of the event this year is “Nurturing the Heart.”

“This year’s theme is in response to a lot of the social disconnect and politics going on in our community right now,” said Sanam Ememi, an activist and community organizer.